1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance including a cooktop having at least one heating element and a controller for automatically operating the at least one heating element at multiple power levels.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, establishing a selected power level for a heating element in a cooking appliance is known. However, maintaining the selected power level for the entire duration of a cooking process is not always desirable. Specifically, when cooking rice, pasta or other liquid based food items, it is often necessary to bring a liquid to a boil using an initial, high power setting and thereafter simmer at a second or lower power setting for a prescribed period. In today's fast paced society, there is seldom time to continuously monitor the contents of a pot. Often times the pot will boil over, causing the contents to run onto the heated surface(s) of a stove. Other times, the pot is left to boil for so long that the contents boil away leaving behind a charred mess.
The prior art teaches a variety of methods for providing a more convenient means of cooking food on a cooktop. One example is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,114 disclosing an intelligent cooking system. The cooking system includes various cooking implements, such as pots and pans, each having an associated temperature monitor. The system also includes a cooktop having a plurality of burners and a controller that is linked between the cooktop and the temperature monitors to maintain a desired temperature in the associated pot or pan. While effective, this system is large, complex and expensive. In the highly competitive field of cooking appliances, increased cost and complexity can be significant, disadvantageous features.
Another method disclosed in the prior art is embodied in U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,630 directed to an acoustic sensing system for detecting boiling in a particular cooking implement. As disclosed, an acoustic sensor is mounted in a cooktop range and configured to detect acoustic frequencies that are characteristic of emissions resulting from heating and boiling of water. While effective to a large extent, not all cooking processes include a boiling stage. In addition, as with the previous method, there are both high costs and reliability concerns with this system.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for a cooking appliance including a cooktop and a controller capable of establishing multiple power levels for at least one heating element of the cooktop, with each power level having an associated time duration of operation. More specifically, there exists a need for a cooking appliance having a controller that can establish an initial high power level for a first time period of a cooking operation and then automatically lower to a second power level for the remainder of the cooking operation.